AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“You know…” She looks me up and down like a lioness eyeing her prey. “Sophie told me a lot about you already, but she sure didn’t do you justice.”
I shift my gaze to a blushing Sophie. “Oh, didn’t she?”
She glares at Maureen.
“What did you say about me, Sophie?” I ask.
She glances at me and crosses her arms. “I said you were very talented, and-”
“And handsome,” Maureen adds.
Sophie turns away quickly and buries her head in her script, hiding her face.
I almost blush myself, shoving my hands in my pockets in an effort to distract myself from saying something I’ll regret.
“But all jokes aside,” Maureen continues, taking her seat, “I’m really excited to work with you. You’ve got a great resume.”
I nod. “Thanks, yeah. I appreciate it.” Regretfully, I don’t know anything about hers.
When I finally take my seat, I have a chance to look around the room. There are at least thirty of us sitting around the main table, with countless others at the edges of the room, observing. The director, George sits at the head of the table, directly across from me and Sophie. He’s beaming at all of us.
I lean into Sophie. “Looks like George is happy with the cast he’s cooked up.”
She looks up from her script and smiles at George. “Let’s hope we do him justice.”
“Oh, we will,” I assure her.
George stands up and begins to speak over the crowd. “Good morning! I want to personally welcome you all to New York. I’m so glad those of you from out of town have had safe travels.” He shifts some papers on the table in front of him before looking up again. “Well, here we are. This has been a long time coming, with so many of us working hard to finally make this project a reality. Each and every one of you are playing a huge part in making this happen. Today, we’ll get this first read-through under our belts. Tomorrow, the main cast will gather for a history tour around the city and visit some of the sites from the story. And then on Tuesday, we’ll kick off the first day of rehearsals.” He pauses. “To begin, I’m going to pass it over to our fabulous playwright, and then let’s do some quick introductions around the table before we get started for the day.”
It takes us six hours plus a lunch break to get through the entire script twice, discussing notes as we go. But it’s really thrilling to finally put voices to the characters. Sophie’s acquired vintage New York accent is perfect, and just gentle enough for Elaine’s quiet personality.
Reading through the entire script with her is exhilarating. Now, more than ever, I can’t wait to start rehearsing. There are a few lines that stir something up from within me, and I can tell she still has a fair bit of nerves built up too. As we read through our two love scenes, she tenses and holds her breath like she’d rather be anywhere else. But I read them with a different kind of attitude. I’m eager to be close to her again. At least I can have some fun pretending.
When we’re finally finished, George looks at his watch. “Ok, that wraps it up for the day. Remember, 7 pm kick-off dinner at Rossini’s.”
We all begin standing up and gathering our things to head home. Sophie is quick to leave, conveniently stepping onto the elevator with a large group.
“What hotel are you in?” Maureen is beside me, blinking eagerly.
I stuff my script into my bag and glance at her. “The Lucerne.”
“Me too!” she replies happily.
I smile halfheartedly. Of the options production gave me, I chose the one closest to the Upper West Side, where Sophie lives. Apparently, Maureen had the same thought.
“This is just so exciting.” She falls into step alongside me as we walk to the elevator. “Have you thought much about Daria and William’s dynamic? I mean, I thought the readthrough went great, but I mean, we should have a chat about what’s really going on inside their minds, right?”
“Yeah, um, sure, we can talk about that,” I reply as we enter the elevator.
“Yes, how about tomorrow? And will you be at dinner tonight? Have you ever been to Rossini’s before?”
She’s all questions, and they come quickly, pelting me without pause. “Tomorrow we have the history tour in the morning, but maybe we can chat in the afternoon. And yes, I’ll be at dinner. And no, I’ve never been to Rossini’s. Have you?” We exit the elevator and I push the front door open into the chilly winter air.
“Oh, definitely not. Oooh, brrr. It’s so cold, isn’t it?” She shivers.
I’m trying and failing to process her high energy as I pull my coat tighter around me. “You’re from California, aren’t you?”
“Yeah, San Diego. Much prettier there. Snow is gross. I felt like a frickin’ icicle as soon as I stepped off the plane.”
